Getting the Most out of Your Web Site

Optimizing self-service on the web

As more and more customers select the web as their preferred channel for conducting business, it is becoming increasingly important to make it easy for them. After all, they spend most of their time on other web sites and bring those expectations with them when they visit their local energy utility web site. And these days, customers have a very low tolerance for sites that are difficult to use. The goal of self-service is to improve adoption rates and encourage repeat visits to your web site. However, usable sites don’t happen by accident. Usability is accomplished by systematically applying design principles and guidelines and by involving actual customers in the design process. See examples of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to the design of energy utility web sites, particularly with regard to online payments.

Key points of this presentation include:

¨ the value of usability principles and guidelines

¨ essential elements of usable self-service forms

¨ how to simplify the structure of tasks

¨ how to design for errors, confirmation and feedback

45 minutes with 15 minutes for questions (1 hour total)

Chris Bond, Usability Consultant
Portland General Electric
121 SW Salmon Street, 3WTC-0407
Portland, OR 97204
(503) 464-7930

Chris Bond has been an employee at Portland General Electric for over 23 years. As a usability consultant and active member of the Human Factors Society and the Usability Professionals’ Association he promotes usability in systems design as a guest speaker in various forums. He has provided consulting services and usability studies to several utilities in North America. He has conducted several workshops nationwide on web design and interactive telephone systems. He has also written a number of articles on usability for Element K Journals (previously Ziff-Davis) Inside Visual Basic, Inside Web Development, Ergonomics and Design, and is referenced in the book, Cost-Justifying Usability by Deborah J. Mayhew and Randolf G. Bias. He is the primary author of the award winning article in Ergonomics in Design, Your Call is Important to Us . . . Please hold.

Recent Speaking Engagements

Chartwell’s Best Practices Summit on Bill Presentment and Payment

Keynote Presentation: Driving Customers to Online Billing and Payment Options